Thursday, September 29, 2011

As long time Tattler readers may recall, we discussed the TitanGroup's closeentanglement in the El Monte Transit Village Scandal quite a lot back in 2009. However, it later seemed that local investigations were going nowhere and our interest flagged. There were other fish to fry. But apparently an FBI investigation into the matter has been quietly ongoing for two years. The FBI, which prefers to operate in secrecy when conducting its investigations, hasn't said much about this to anyone. But in today's sometimes enlightening Pasadena Star News, a few beans are spilled by other parties.

And there is a question that must be asked. Has former Sierra Madre Mayor and persistent regressive redevelopment nuisance Bart Doyle been caught up in any of this excitement? As the former Chief Operating Officer of the Titan Group, the organization that was the moving force behind the El Monte Transit Village, he was definitely a part of the picture during its heyday.And since this defunctcompany is today the apparent object of some ongoing Fed curiosity, Doyle's possible involvement now in this FBI investigation does seem like a fair topic for inquiry.

However, whether or not that is the case is a source for speculation only at this point. This from the PSN:

FBI, federal authorities investigating El Monte Village project - the FBI and other federal authorities are investigating the former developer of the $1 billion El Monte Transit Village project, according to federal, sheriff's and city officials.

El Monte police turned their investigation into alleged fraud by two executives of the Titan Group, John Leung and Jean Lang, over to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. A sheriff's lieutenant said Wednesday the department declined to investigate because the FBI was involved.

"When we were asked by El Monte (police) to investigate the case ... we did a little research and found out the FBI already had a case they were investigating so we weren't going to step on their toes," sheriff's Lt. Sherri Anderson (said). "We did let the FBI know that El Monte asked us to do it, but they were already doing it."

In 2007 things were looking a bit more sunny for the Titan Group and their El Monte Transit Village project. John Leung, the owner of Titan (pictured standing above with our Bart), was quite upfront about all the excitement being created by his transit village redevelopment project, and said so in this Sep. 25, 2007 article ("Mixed Used Development a Possibility in El Monte" - click here), originally published in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

"There is tremendous interest, and we are working with at least three different national financial institutions," said Leung, who estimated that the company should complete its financing negotiations within the next two months. "But it is looking very good right now."

He said that because of the project's massive scale, Titan is looking at about 10 different funding sources. "They all look very promising," Leung said.

In this same article Bart Doyle, Titan's Chief Operating Officer, also expresses a strong belief in the coming success of this project. Here is what he had to say:

The company also is negotiating with the city for a purchase price on its existing public works yard, as well as with Caltrans, which owns some of the land around the bus depot. Plans also call for Titan to lease property owned by the county's Metropolitan Transportation Authority to complete the project, said Bart Doyle, the company's chief operating officer.

Those acquisitions have yet to be made, though Doyle said that they are being "actively pursued." If all that falls into place, construction on the first phase of the project could begin in about a year, Doyle said. "We still need to map the property, get grading and building permits," Doyle said. "That takes time."

It wasn't too much later that John Leung was arrested for fraud, the Titan Group went belly up, and the $1 billion dollar, 65 acre El Monte Transit Village (aka "the Billion Dollar Bus Station") project fell into near ruins.

And now, 2 years later, another puzzle part to this story has fallen into place. It turns out that this investigation remains very much alive, and it is being conducted by the FBI. An organization widely known for its seriousness and sense of purpose.

An interesting development to be sure.

Bonus Coverage -Lead story on The Patch today: "Mosca Mistreated Committee Chair, Members Say." The committee in question is the General Plan Update Steering Committee. Not much meat on the bones of the article itself, but the video of Deb Sheridan and Colin Braudrick is pretty choice. Credit where credit is due.

Old LocalLeast we forget!Bart was as dishonest as they come, and after enduring Mosca for the past years, that says a lot.They are both the lowest of the low.Neither should be in any positions to hurt honest people.Bart Doyle is every bit as despicable as Joe Mosca.Both are vile men who don't belong in public office. Most politicians are bad enough, we sure don't need guys like Mosca and Doyle.

Implicating Doyle in the Titan mess is premature. He has never been mentioned in any of the investigative aspects of the company. This time, I think this reporting has gone way too far in accusing someone who has yet to be implicated. I too am not a troll, but a regular Tat.

He has never been mentioned in any of the investigative aspects of the company? The FBI will not be interested in the Chief Operating Officer of a fraudulent company? Surely it bears looking into, as an investigative aspect.

How about implicating Doyle in the Sierra Madre Shenanigan mess, "regular Tat"?

Don't want to do that.....okay I will.

DOYLE IS IMPLICATED IN EVERY SINGLE SHENANIGAN in SIERRA MADRE SINCE HE MOVED HERE.

The man is a DISEASE. Of course he's implicated in the TITAN mess. He's also implicated in the BIA "donating" all that money to fight our Measure V.He's implicated in the latest "shenanigan" to overturn Measure V.Wake up, Regular Tat.

In the CC packet for the meeting of the night of the swearing in of Mosca and Kurt Zimmerman and Don Watts, there was an item of old business: fines for Bart Doyle $5,000 and Margie Tucker (disgraced Financial Director hired under the Doyle CC) $5,000 for different infractions in the carrying out of their elected (Doyle) or hired (Tucker) duties. People like Doyle getting elected and then hiring the likes of Tucker (she was on administrative leave from her similar position in West Covina) have been slipping under the radar far too long in this "everythings hunky dory in Sierra Madre" town of our. Time to shine the light of day and it has always been thought that our small potatoes illegalities would only come to the surface when a bigger fish got caught!

Joe is toxic. He has a toxic personality. There are always antidotes for toxic environments and toxic people. People have to learn how to protect themselves from this-- different antidotes for different people. If you work in the real world you get a chance to work on this practically everyday.

Colin and Deb, and Denise and all the others will outlast Joe and his other toxic buddies/buddette on the CC.

12:27 makes a very good point that I've been pondering, "...slipping under the radar far too long in this "everythings hunky dory in Sierra Madre" town"

When in Sierra Madre did speaking the truth become such a difficult task? When did residents stop telling city staff to their faces what the problems were, and when did it become necessary to only be either a cheerleader or a demon?

Resdients have learned that no matter what they say all that will come back from the CC and staff is lip service. So they stopped coming to the meetings. It is a government that is for the most part made up of people who are not from here.

I think it goes back to Buchanan and Doyle's Cumquat strategy. Mock and humiliate the opposition through crude internet sites and deceptive mass mailings. Overwhelm them with expensive marketing campaigns. That was when government in this town first stopped working with the residents.

Deb Sheridan really ripped into the gang Tuesday night. Rightfully so. Deb works hard on that General Plan Committee, so do all those people.For the likes of Mosca to attack Denise Delmar was really disgusting.Sheridan doesn't go for these type of attacks and let the gang know it.Good for you Deb Sheridan.

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